Take A Drink
by scribbens
Summary: Alex is 23 and returns to Newport after 5 years.
1. Chapter 1

Running was her release. She felt like she could do it forever and be perfectly happy, except when she remembered what had set her to running in the first place. She had left her old home years ago, but the thought of what had happened all those years ago never failed to upset her. So she ran. There was something about the sameness of it that calmed her.

Alex was nearing the end of her run, contemplating doing her route twice when she noticed a blue car sitting in her drive. Immediately recognizing the car, Alex thought the extended run was an even better idea. The last thing she wanted to deal with right now is a certain ex of hers, Erin. She never got the hint that her and Alex were most definitely over, and had been for almost a year. Deciding that it was probably best to get this over with, Alex slowed down and approached her house. As she made it to the front door, Erin came tearing around the corner of the house ranting about how she thought Alex was avoiding her and she was trying to find a way in. The longer this went on, the more of a creeper she turned into.

"What do you want Erin?"

"Same thing I've wanted for awhile. You. Or at least your friendship." She corrected when Alex opened mouth to protest about the "you" comment.

"We've tried friends before Erin. It works for a few weeks and then you decide to proclaim your love for me every ten minutes. Maybe you should accept that just friends is not possible for us." As soon as she made the last comment, she knew she was going to regret it. She gave her an opening to exploit.

Predictably the first words out of Erin's mouth was, "Well why can't we be more than friends? We made a really good couple, and then one day you just decided it was over. No warning, no nothing. Just bam, its over, now get out."

Thinking that she should have just kept running, Alex sighed, "Erin I explained to you why I broke up with you. Not to mention the fact that you are overly clingy, I have been making plans to leave Charlotte for awhile now, and the time is almost here for me to go. I'm leaving in two weeks, and I don't do long distance."

"I can go with you. Then we can be together." After a pause she realized something she had missed. "Wait where are you going? I thought you liked it here. You said North Carolina was a good change from where you used to be. Although you never told me where you used to live."

"I do like North Carolina, but I need another change. Well I guess it's more like a familiar change. A way to start over, but in a familiar place. I was just giving people there ample time to forget about me. I want to open another club. I think Phoenix could do well there. I've been trying to think of a good place to open my next club, and I thought my old home sounded like a good place."

"And yet you still haven't named your "old home" yet."

"That's because it is not relevant. You are not coming with me. That thing about starting over means leaving everything behind."

"But what if we need to get in touch? I do work as manager of your club here."

"You have my cell number. Besides, once the club is already up and running you will know where I am. But until then, I need to be left alone."

"I don't get you Alex Kelly. But whatever, I will let it go. For now."

As Erin left to get in her car, Alex was a little stunned. She had never won an argument with Erin so easy before. It generally took hours to convince her of something, especially when that something was how much Alex didn't want to be with her.

Glad to have that over with, Alex turned and unlocked her front door, fully intent on taking a nice long shower. She walked to the kitchen to get some water then made her way down the hall to her bedroom but paused in front of her office door. She opened the door, shower temporarily forgotten, and went to sit at her chair. She unlocked the only drawer that required a key and pulled out the picture lying on top and stared at it. She felt a single tear roll down her face before she replaced the picture and went off to her shower.


	2. Chapter 2

Sorry it is so slow going. I just want to take my time building it up, and not to make everything happen in just a couple chapters. Things should pick up in the few though.

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Alex was a nervous wreck as she finished packing her things. She had spent the last couple days packing everything she owned into boxes destined for her new home. Her friends had been understandably sad, but also supportive. Telling her they would miss her and to call, a lot. Alex had to admit that she was going to miss them a great deal. She didn't know she was going to meet such great people when she moved to Charlotte. Actually for her first year here, she didn't really have any friends, but she was pretty sure that could be chalked up to her business opening the new club. She found people here to be extremely nice in general. People didn't go out of their way to cause problems, unlike her last home. Everything was always drama. Their lives revolved around gossip. The fact that she was readily going back to a place that she clearly thought poorly of her showed just how much her clubs meant to her. At least that is what Alex liked to think. She tried not to admit to herself that a person was her main reason for returning.

Lost in thought, Alex missed the fact that someone was talking to her. She turned to find her best friend Kate glaring at her.

"Sorry. What did you say?"

"I said I was really going to miss you and I hope you visit. I'm over here baring my soul and you're just looking off into space. Story of my life."

"Haha, no need to embellish. I'm just a little distracted. I am a little worried about leaving."

"Alex Kelly is nervous. Well butter my butt and call me a biscuit, the world must be ending. Hell must be freezing over as we speak. I don't think I have ever witnessed a site such as this."

Laughing at her friends choice of words Alex tried to get a sentence out, but her laughter was preventing it. She eventually got her fit under control enough to console Kate and let her know that of course she would visit and keep in touch.

"Why won't you tell anyone where you are going? I'm supposed to be your best friend, yet you are hiding something important from me. Makes me feel kind of like someone else must be best friend and you tell them everything, and I'm just a pretend friend that you need to help run your club."

"Oh geez, could you be anymore dramatic." Alex thought back to her earlier musings about how less dramatic Charlotte was. Now she thought that they might now be so different. " I will tell you where I am once the new club is set up. I need to be completely left alone for awhile to get my head straight. And once I'm settled I will fly you out to see me. Deal?"

"Deal." With that Kate proceeded to bounce away gloating to anyone within earshot about how she will be the first to know where Alex was going.

Alex chuckled at her friends behavior for a minute before returning to her previous train of thought. Although she was nervous about moving back, she was also excited. She knew the reason for her excitement was not the club she was going to be opening, but the thought of seeing her first, and so far, only love again in person. If she did happen to have the luck of seeing her love again, she wasn't sure if it would be a happy or completely heartbreaking experience. But she was sure she needed this closure to fully move on.

With everything packed up, and a flight leaving tomorrow morning, Alex turned in for the night, the thought of seeing her ex swirling in her head until sleep overtook her.


	3. Chapter 3

Her flight, after what seemed like forever, was finally in the air. Although usually afraid of heights, her excitement could not be ruined. She was finally on her way back to California. The once place that she had intended on never returning to, at least until about a year ago. She had stumbled upon a box in her basement that contained all her memoirs from her home in California. She spent almost an hour just staring inside the box without touching anything. She had thought this box had been lost during the move, and while sad at first for losing it, she had convinced herself it was for the best. She didn't need reminders of the life she had had. Eventually, she looked through the box and found a picture of her ex that made her heart feel like it was breaking all over again. It was both of them, Alex caring her ex on her back while a friend took the picture. The worst part about the picture was how happy she looked. She felt like she would give anything to have that back, but also knew it could never happen. She eventually put the picture in the locked drawer of her desk, looking at it every once in awhile. The pain of looking at it never lessened.

* * *

Once again, lost in thought, Alex didn't realize how much time had passed while she was reminiscing. Her flight was landing. This was it, everything she had been waiting for. Alex was beginning to think her nerves were going to fry her brains.

After dealing with all the annoying airport hassle, Alex was in a cab on her way to her new home. She had had all her necessary possessions sent ahead of time, with everything else to follow shortly. She still felt as though her brain was being fried. Not used to feeling nervous about anything, this was a new world to her, and she didn't like it.

The cab arrived and she paid him, turned to look at her new house and immediately thought that her brain had indeed fried and she was now hallucinating. The notion of hallucinating was more comforting then reality. Erin was standing on her new doorstep. This had to be a record. She was standing on my doorstep before I had even seen it. This seemed to be a bad omen as far as Alex was concerned and her hopes of reacquainting herself with her old group of friends.

"What in the hell are you doing here?"

"I thought I would surprise you. Keep you company while you are getting settled."

In shock that anyone could be so clueless, Alex couldn't respond for a second. Something that Erin seemed to interpret as a sign that she had done something good. As she made her way down the stairs to presumably embrace her, Alex found her voice.

"You stupid bitch." This brought Erin up short. Despite Alex's biting comments, she had never used crass language before. A sign Erin had taken as Alex didn't mean what she was saying. That she wanted her around. "I can't believe you are so fucking clueless as to think I want you around me. You are a stalker. Like girl that boiled a bunny in Fatal Attraction creepy. You routinely break into my house and no matter how many times I change my number you steal it from someone at the club. And now, you've followed me to a place where I expressly told you I did not want you. How in the hell did you find me anyway?"

"Your ticket was in the drawer of your desk. Beneath that picture of you and that girl."

Alex was officially seeing red. "You broke into my desk?"

"I just wanted to know where you were going so I could surprise you. I couldn't find it anywhere else so I figured it was in your desk drawer that you kept locked."

"It was locked for a damn reason. I don't want people to see what is in there. Are you really so clueless you couldn't figure that out on your own?"

"Why are you being such a bitch? I came here to make you feel more comfortable about the move."

"I don't want you here. I don't even want you in my life at all. You do nothing but cause problems. And rest assured you are fired from the club in Charlotte. Where you are going back to now because you don't belong here. I want to be alone. That means by myself in case you don't know what it means." Alex was fuming. She probably shouldn't have fired her, but this was the last straw of many. She was over Erin's antics and stalkerish ways. She also didn't want to subject her friends to her any longer. It had already gone on too long.

A look outside told her Erin was still standing there looking stunned. Alex brushed it off and made her way to the bathroom, which took her a minute to find because the house was unfamiliar. After a quick shower, Alex peered out the window again to find Erin gone. Alex hoped that she was gone for good, but had a nagging feeling that she wasn't.

She went downstairs to find the bag she had put down upon entering to look for her cell. After locating she found she had a missed call from Kate. Sure that Kate just wanted to know that Alex's flight had landed safely Alex called her back.

"Alex! How was your flight?"

"Good. The real problem was waiting on my doorstep."

"What happened?"

"Erin."

"Oh my god! She followed you out there? Damn I was supposed to be the first person to know where you went."

"No, she didn't follow me. She beat me here. She broke into my house and found the ticket in my desk."

"Wait. I looked through your desk and didn't find it."

"You went through my desk? What is wrong with everyone. There is a thing called privacy that you people should get acquainted with."

"I just wanted to know. But it wasn't in there when I looked."

"She broke into my locked drawer."

"Wow! How pissed were you?"

"Lets just say she is officially fired."

"Thats actually rather good news. I'm tired of her stealing things. Oh by the way. The reason I called was someone came looking for you at the club. She said she was an old friend."

Alex was pretty sure her heart skipped a beat. "Did she give a name?"

"Uh, yeah give me a second, I wrote it down. It's Marissa. Marissa Cooper. Do you know her?"

This time breathing was the problem. "Did she say what she wanted?"

"Nope. Just that she needed to talk to you. I told her I would call you and let her know when she comes back later. Hey are you OK? You don't sound very good."

Trying to keep her voice even Alex managed to choke out that she was fine. "Can you give her my number when she comes back?"

"Sure, sure. No problem. Well I will let you get back to whatever it was you were doing. Love ya Alex. Bye."

"Bye Kate. Thanks for calling."

After Alex hung up the phone she was pretty sure she was going to pass out. She stumbled into the kitchen, thankful that she had had it stocked ahead of time, and grabbed a beer, hoping it would calm her nerves. She sat at the island on a stool thinking about why Marissa had tried to contact her. Hopefully everything was okay. Trying to get her mind on something else, she waited for Marissa to call.


	4. Chapter 4

Alex was still sitting at the kitchen island an hour later when her cell rang. Her heartbeat turned erratic as she picked up her phone. A glance at her caller id showed that Kate was calling. While rather disappointing, it did help calm her heart down. She wondered what had happened as she answered.

"Hey Kate, what's up?"

"Hey Alex. Your mystery girl showed back up at the club, but when I tried to give your number she wouldn't take it. Talk about weird. You come to talk to someone, but when someone offers up their phone number you refuse."

"Did she mention why she wouldn't take it?"

"Yeah. She said something about the conversation having to be in person. I explained that you were out of town but I didn't know where exactly. Which by the way is hard to explain to someone. Yeah I'm Alex's best friend. Where is she? Oh, she left without telling me where. Makes me sound like an idiot."

"Did you offer to find out my location for her?"

"Well no. You said you would tell me all in good time. I apologized that I couldn't be of more help and she went on her way."

"Did she leave a number for you to call if you found out where I was?"

"No. She just left when I couldn't tell her where you were. I don't know if it means anything to you, but she looked worried or upset about something."

"I don't know what that means." And she dreaded to know why Marissa would come looking for after all these years looking upset or worried.

"You never did tell me who this Marissa is."

"She is an old friend from back home. One of the people I wanted to try to meet back up with actually. I don't have a clue why she would come looking for me though. I left when I was 18, and we haven't talked since."

"Oh. Well am I allowed to know where you are now? Erin does. I think it's only fair I do to."

"Oh alright. I'm in California."

"Oh my god. You're from California. That's awesome. You should have told me sooner. I knew you weren't from anywhere on the East Coast."

"Yeah you had me completely figured out."

"Is that sarcasm I detect, because I'm serious. I knew."

"Yeah yeah whatever you say Kate. Anyway you should be working right now, so do your job. If you see Marissa again, tell her I'm in California. She will know where to find me after that."

"Can do Miss Kelly. Good luck settling in."

"Thanks. Bye Kate."

* * *

Still worried about what could have Marissa upset, Alex decided she would go out for awhile. Get familiarized with her old surroundings. A walk on the pier sounded perfect. Alex walked towards the garage, thankful that she had decided to have a car waiting for her when she got here. Well not a car. The first thing she bought with money earned from the club was a Ducati 848. It was beautiful, not to mention perfect for riding in California weather. She opened the garage door, put on her helmet and was off. She loved riding this bike, it was like flying. It was also the perfect remedy to helping Alex forget about her current worries.

She arrived at the pier feeling on top of the world. She dismounted, removing her helmet and began walking down the all too familiar pier. A few things she didn't recognize, but to Alex it was exactly the same as she remembered it. Half way down the pier someone stopped walking in front of her. She made to walk around the stranger without really looking at him, she was too focused looking at the beach. But as she made it around him, the stranger grabbed her, wheeling her around to face him.

"Alex?"

The mention of her name caught her attention more than the arm currently on hers. She looked in the face of the man and felt like she had been kicked.

"Seth?"


	5. Chapter 5

sternite - Actually, the pairing is not going to be Marissa Alex for awhile, if at all. I left it open because I wasn't sure what I wanted to do yet. But I will tell you, the pairing from the past wasn't with Marissa. So I guess that answers your alternate universe question.

* * *

"Seth?"

"Holy shit. It is you. I was worried I was stopping a total stranger there for a second. You were looking at me like I had spouted an extra head or something."

"You might as well have." She told him while chuckling. "I didn't expect to run into anyone while I was here. Especially you. Five years ago, all you could talk about was how much you wanted to get away from here. But here you stand."

"It turned out not to be as bad as I thought once I graduated."

"So what have you been up to?"

"Oh no Alex. You aren't getting off that easy. You are the one that disappeared. You are now obligated to tell me what you have been up to first. It's the rules you know."

"Can we at least get something to eat if I'm going to be subjected to this. I'm starving."

"Sure, I will even pay."

"That's a first."

Seth punched her in the arm. "Hey, I can be a gentleman sometimes."

"Now you can. You couldn't before." She smacked him in the stomach.

"Why are you always beating me up. You leave for five years and within the first 10 minutes of being back you are hitting me."

"You hit me first remember. Besides, I've been back for a few hours. Much longer than 10 minutes."

"You've been back that long without trying to get in touch. I'm hurt."

"I had some problems to deal with almost as soon as arriving. I managed to find the one person on this planet that is more of a creeper than you are."

"No easy feat. I must meet this person. I could use some pointers if I'm being bested."

"Only you could pride yourself on being creepy." She couldn't help but be comfortable around Seth. He had been her closest friend at a point in time. Turns out time and distance don't break bonds like theirs.

"The things I can pride myself on are slim pickings. I take what I can get. Now where would you like to go to eat?"

"An Italian restaurant. Really don't care which one."

"Do you want me to drive?"

"If you feel like bringing me back here after to pick up my bike."

"No problem. Anything for a friend."

"Alright." She hooked her arm in his and they started off toward Seth's car when Alex suddenly stopped.

"What's wrong?"

"Do you still drive like a grandma? Because I don't know if I can take that."

"Hey, no need to insult my driving. I have proudly turned into a California driver. Lots of law breaking and cussing. You have nothing to worry about."

"Sounds good to me." She rehooked her arm in his and they want on their way, laughing and joking.

* * *

"So now that we are settled, I demand to know what you have been up to. Starting with right after you left, and then you can just move up to the person who is stalking you."

"You don't demand much."

"You owe me remember. I'm not only buying you dinner, but I am your friend. Therefore, you should once again, feel obligated to tell me."

"Alright, well you know why I originally left. That's not a secret."

"I guess I can kind of understand why you left, even if I don't like it."

"Well after I left..."

"Without telling anyone."

"Can you not interrupt?"

"That's like asking me not to breathe. But I will try my best."

"Anyways, after I left I moved to Detroit. I only stayed for a few months though. It just felt wrong, never really felt like home. So then I tried San Antonio. That was great for awhile, but I was trying to start a club, and San Antonio had a lot making it impractical to start there."

"I actually read about you in a magazine. The two clubs you do have are pretty popular."

"Yeah I'm getting there. So I did some research and found that North Carolina was having a bit of a club boom. So I dropped everything in Texas and left. I don't know what I would have done if Phoenix didn't make it. I started Phoenix about two years after I left Newport.

Well after my success in Charlotte, I decided to try opening a club in Atlanta. I really wanted to challenge myself. So I opened Pegasus and got lucky again. That's pretty much my first four years gone. I poured so much of myself into my business that I didn't have much of a social life. Fortunately, my best friend worked at my club so I wasn't completely alone. We even roomed together for awhile."

"You replaced me?"

"You are always special in my book Seth. I was trying to leave Newport behind, and that included you. You know why I left. Keeping in touch with you would have made it more painful. I had to find someone new that could be my moral support. Kate is actually remarkably similar to you."

"Tall, dark and awkward."

"Yep." Alex really did love Seth. He was her own personal comedic relief.

"Anyways, lets hear about your stalker."

"Right, well after everything started cooling down and my clubs were doing great, I decided to try to find someone. Something more than friends like Kate. I was lonely."

"Understandable. Although I will admit, after what happened I'm surprised you tried again. It's not that I expected you to be alone forever, I just couldn't see you letting yourself possibly get hurt like that again."

"Yeah I was kind of surprised with myself. Well a little over a year ago I met a girl named Erin. At first I thought she was wonderful, I couldn't have asked for a better partner. That changed pretty quickly though. She became obsessed with me. She followed me around, accused me of cheating regularly and was constantly talking about how we were going to be together forever and she couldn't wait till we moved in together."

"Wow. I think I see where this is going."

"Well I obviously broke it off after a few months. Well I tried to. For the last year she has deluded herself into thinking we are in love and still together. I change my phone number regularly but she just steals it from Kate's or someone else who works at the clubs phone. She has also recently taken to breaking into my house."

"So I assume she followed you here."

"Yep. She was waiting on my doorstep.

"Did you get rid of her?"

"She left my house, but I think she is going to be lingering here for a while."

"Well no worries. I can help keep her away."

"What are you going to do. Scare her away with your chicken arms."

"Again with the insults." Despite is saddened tone of voice, he was still smiling. Clearly enjoying the banter.

"Well, you got my run down. Let's hear yours."

"You know me. Loves to talk. Just let me call home and let my wife know I will be late."

"Married?"

"Yep. I will tell you about it, just excuse me for a second."

"Of course." Seth was married. That was truly a surprise. Alex couldn't imagine a woman being able to put up with him long enough to go through a wedding ceremony. She couldn't help but wonder who he had married. He had dated Anna through most of high school, and they were still together when she had left. But, if she knew anything about Newport, it was that you shouldn't expect anything because people always surprise you.

Seth came back, interrupting her musings. She just smiled at him and waited for his explanation, knowing it would be interesting at the very least.

"So I assume you want to know who the lucky lady is?"

"Lucky isn't the word I would have picked, but yes."

"I guess it shouldn't be too much a surprise. About six months ago I married Anna."

"Thats what I assumed. She was the only person who could ever tolerate you for extended periods of time and still be romantically interested."

"Ooo, zing. See your wit didn't abandon you."

"Well it's always got a good work out, no reason to leave. Enough about me, what else has been going on?"

"Shortly after you left, as you could probably guess, I went to college at RISD. Anna was at Brown so there was no problems there. There was a surprising lack of anything truly interesting through college. It came and went without much incident. After I graduated I got back into drawing comics, and is currently what I still do."

"You are just as boring as ever."

"Not everyone can be a successful club owner. Some of us are destined to do less great things."

"The fact that you love talking about nothing and it still took you less than five minutes to explain what you have been doing for five years should tell you something."

"That I like the simple life."

"Which I like to call the boring life."

"Whatever. I can tell you about the other people that have missed your sorry ass since you've been gone. Like Summer, Marissa, Kaitlin, Anna, Taylor and Ryan."

Alex stilled after his list of names. "No."

Seth was taken aback for a second until he realized what he has said. "Oh shit. I am so sorry. I didn't mean to bring her up. It just slipped out."

"It's fine." All sense of fun and joking had left her voice. "I know you didn't mean to. Besides, I shouldn't be acting like a teenager. She is your friend and she was mine too."

"I still shouldn't have done it."

"It's alright. I do have a question though."

"Fire away."

"I got a call from a friend in Charlotte telling me that Marissa had come looking for me. Do you know anything about it?"

"I didn't know she had left, but I am pretty sure I know what it was about."

"Are you going to tell me?"

"I think it would be better to let someone else explain all the details. I can tell you its not good though. Judging from your reaction earlier it might not be a good idea at all."

"Dammit Seth. Just tell me."

"There was an accident, and I think you can guess who was involved. She fell into a coma."

Alex wasn't sure she remembered how to breathe.


	6. Chapter 6

Sorry it's so short and uneventful. I don't have a lot of time to write longer chapters and like I said before, I want the story to progress slowly and the next chapter is going to be major so this had to be kept short.

* * *

"Alex! Are you OK?"

Alex didn't even try to summon up the will to answer him. Her head felt like it weighed a hundred pounds. She managed to nod and held up a finger to signal to him that she just needed a minute to get her bearings.

Seth began muttering under his breath about knowing it was a bad idea to tell her. She was beginning to think herself that she shouldn't have asked.

"How bad?" Her voice was no more than a whisper and Seth hadn't heard her. Frustrated she repeated her question.

"The doctors don't know for sure yet. She got through surgery alright, but like I told you, she is in a coma. I don't know much about things like this, but that doesn't sound like a good sign."

The room was starting to spin less and Alex felt her breath returning to normal. Her anxiety wasn't letting up an inch though. Despite her breathing evening it out, it still felt as though she was choking.

"I knew it was a bad idea to tell you. You're back less than a day and here I am ruining what should have been a celebration."

"No, thank you for telling me. I'm sure I would have found out eventually. Better sooner than later."

"If you say so. Are you sure you're OK? You still look kind of sick."

"I'm fine. Really. You just took me by surprise is all."

"Well I would offer to take you back to the pier but I'm not sure I want you driving. I could drop you off tonight and pick you up in the morning to go get your bike."

"That actually sounds pretty good."

"Alright, just let me pay and we will get out of here."

* * *

It was a silent ride back to her house, occasionally broken by a direction. Alex couldn't get her mind off what Seth had told her. It seemed impossible. She couldn't decide how to feel. Seth, for once, didn't feel the need to chatter inanely, seeming to understand that she wasn't interested in chatting anymore. And it was true, all she wanted was to go home and lay in bed, trying to process the days events.

After Seth had dropped her off with a promise to return tomorrow morning and she thanked him for everything, she retreated to the safety of her home. She immediately went to her room in search of a box she had had delivered ahead of time. Upon finding it, she rooted through its contents until she found what she was looking for. Her picture. Alex crawled into bed and just stared at the picture of her ex. After crying till there was nothing left, she drifted off to sleep uttering one word over and over again.

"Summer..."


	7. Chapter 7

Alex woke disoriented and unsure where she was. Panicking, she jumped out of the bed and backed against the wall. It took her a minute to realize that she was in her own house. Laughing at herself she started to make her way to the bathroom, but as she passed her bed she noticed something laying on the floor. She strode over to pick it up, she started at it for a minute, letting the night's events come back to her. Shaking her head, she put the picture in her nightstand and finished her trek to the bathroom. After a quick shower she remembered that Seth would be coming to pick her up at 9 to retrieve her bike. She made a mental note to buy an alarm clock as she looked at the time on her phone. 7:30. Damn, she still had an hour and a half, and she couldn't go anywhere without her bike. She decided to look at the rest of the house. The only parts she had seen were the kitchen and her bedroom. She took her time walking around the house, trying to kill as much time as possible. Despite her dawdling, the trip around the house still didn't take very long. Alex cursed herself for not getting a house closer to the beach. She could spend hours just walking down the beach.

Managing to kill the rest of her wait by straightening things that didn't need it and making herself breakfast. She nearly sprinted to the door when she heard to bell. She was desperate to get out of the house. She was never one for staying indoors for extended periods of time. When she opened to door though, it was not Seth greeting her.

"Ryan."

"Hey Alex. I almost didn't believe Seth when he told me you were back in town."

"Nope. He told the truth for once."

"Yeah, well he told me he was coming by to take you to get your ride and I offered to do it for him. I wanted the chance to see you before you disappear again."

"I'm not leaving again. At least not soon. I am here on business."

"Oh. Was it too much to hope you wanted to see all your old friends again."

"Oh no. I actually picked Newport because I wanted to see everyone again. I just meant to say that I wasn't being driven away again."

"Alright. I was just kidding anyways. Well how about going to get your ride."

"Sounds good to me. It's at the pier."

"Never would have guessed."

"Is Ryan Atwood using sarcasm?"

"Seth was bound to wear off sooner or later."

"Hopefully that is the only thing that has worn off."

"We share the same hope."

Alex was actually surprised at how easy it was to talk to Ryan. She had always considered him a friend but they hadn't exactly been close. She was sure the only reason he hung out with her group of friends was because Seth was his best friend. It seemed as though she was wrong considering here he was after 5 years offering to give her a ride and wanting to catch up.

"So I here you own some clubs."

"Yeah. In North Carolina and Georgia."

"The south? Never imagined you living there."

"Me neither. But I like it. No matter where you are there, it feels like home. At least I get that feeling. Its nice."

"Is that your business in Newport. A new club?

"Yep. I am planning to open a club called Harpy within the next year."

"Harpy?"

"Thought it was fitting. I never did like the majority of people here."

"And the best part is."

"They won't get it."

They arrived at the pier and Alex thanked Ryan for the ride.

"Hey we need to hang out again soon. We should get the old gang back together for a reunion type deal. That way you can catch up with everyone."

"Sounds good. Let me get your number and I will call you later."

After getting his number and thanking him again, she made her way to her bike as he drove away. She stood by her bike for a few minutes staring out at the water as she thought about how much it seemed like nothing had changed. Except it had. Summer was in the hospital and she didn't know what to do. She hadn't expected bad news to be waiting for her in her old home. That was a silly thing to expect she realized, it had been 5 years. Things change. She still wished that it hadn't been Summer that was hurt, as selfish as that was. Summer had made her so happy for so many years. To Alex, there wasn't someone that didn't deserve pain than more than Summer.

Trying to pull her thoughts away from Summer, Alex focused on trying to figure out why Marissa had come looking for her. Seth thinks that Marissa had come for her to tell her about Summer, but that didn't make any sense. It had been years since she had seen or talked to any of her old friends, and after the way she had left, she was surprised that Marissa would go out of her way to find her, even if it was about Summer. Marissa had no reason to think that Alex would even care. She should have asked Ryan for Marissa's number so she could call her. She thought about calling him now for it, but decided against it, she could wait till another time. Her phone chose that moment to ring.

She glanced at the caller id to see that her friend Tasha, from Atlanta, was calling.

"Hey Tasha."

"Hey Alex."

"Is everything OK? You don't usually call unless something is wrong."

"Everything is OK, I guess. There is some girl asking for you at the club."

"Did you get a name?"

"Marissa Cooper. You know her?"

"Yeah, is she still there?"

"She is waiting at the bar for me."

"Did she tell you what she wanted?"

"Just that she needed to talk to you."

"Can you tell her I am in Newport?"

"Sure thing. So is Newport going to be the new club location?"

"Yeah. Returning to my roots and all that jazz."

"Cool. I didn't know you from California. Anyways I will let you get back to your business. Talk to you later. Bye."

"Later Tasha. Thanks for calling."

Marissa was terribly persistent. Alex couldn't help but wonder why Seth hadn't called Marissa to tell her that she was back in town. Knowing Seth it was just because he thought it was more entertaining to have Marissa running all over the place looking for her. Pulling her phone back out to call Seth to tell him to give Marissa a call, she noticed another familiar face. Taylor Townsend. Although Alex did not have a problem with Taylor, she wasn't in the mood for any more catching up just now, so she ducked down behind her bike and sat on the warm asphalt. She silently prayed that Taylor wouldn't pass by and see her sitting on the ground. After sitting still for a few minutes Alex decided it was safe to get up. Cautiously rising to her feet, she glanced around to see if Taylor was still close by. Not seeing her, Alex remembered that she was going to call Seth. She started towards the beach, pulling her cell back out and dialed Seth's number. He answered on the second ring.

"Alex?"

"Hey Seth."

"So you actually did call. Oh, and I hope you don't mind that I let Ryan pick you up today."

"No I didn't mind at all. It was nice seeing him."

"Good. So what's up? Its not like you to call just to chat."

"I want to know why you didn't call and let Marissa know I am back in town and she can quit looking for me?"

"Oh yeah. I had forgotten about that. Did she pop up somewhere else?"

"At my club in Atlanta."

Seth couldn't hide his chuckling even though he tried. Alex knew he did it for personal amusement.

"Seriously Seth. That's not cool. I got the message to her this time though."

"Cool. So you called just to bitch at me?"

"I guess so."

She heard an echo in the background.

"Where are you?"

He hesitated long enough for Alex to have a good guess.

"I'm at the hospital with Anna."

"OK. I will talk to you later."

She hung up just as he started to say something else. She wasn't interested in talking to Seth much anymore. Deciding that she had had enough of the beach, Alex walked back to her bike and started to drive through the Newport streets with no real destination. After an hour, of mindless driving, Alex made her way back to her house. She was hungry, but didn't want to stop anywhere because it seemed that she ran into people she knew everywhere.

After arriving home and cooking herself some food, Alex sat on her deck trying to decide what to do. Before she could think of something, her phone started to buzz again. A look at the phone told her that she didn't know who the caller was. She decided not to answer it and silenced the call. A few minutes later her phone started buzzing again. Realizing that she might as well answer the phone, she picked it up.

"Hello."

"Alex?"

"Yes. Who is this?"

"Its Marissa. I need to talk to you."

"I heard you have been looking for me. I don't know if my club manager told you, but I am in Newport."

"Yeah she told me."

"So what's up?"

"I don't think we should have this conversation over the phone."

"OK. So come back to Newport and we can meet up."

"Alright. I will see in a day or two then. Bye."

Marissa hung up before Alex could say anything else.


End file.
